In Eddington, outside Cambridge (UK), a new block of flats is going up — advertised as “sustainable,” of course, but also offering “period 21st-century homes.” “Period” is going the way of “executive,” stripped of all meaning when the real-estate developers decide it sounds classy. Speaking of classy, outside Chapel Hill (NC) is a “gated community” of gimcrack stucco and tile-roofed houses called “Maida Vale.” (People who know London will know the original Maida Vale as a lower-middle class neighborhood where gentlemen stashed their mistresses.)